That is more of a personal preference or function of the construction of the fence as well as the style and height of the cap. We typically recommend attaching the fence level with the top of the post BEFORE you put the cap on. Having the cap be a tad taller makes sure any slight variations in height and mount don't show as readily.

Most gates are going to fall into a weight range that isn't going to overcome the concrete footings. Our heaviest gate leaf at 12ft wide is about 240lbs and is supported easily by that. If you have an older refurbished antique gate or one that weighs a lot more, then it could be an issue. In that case, it typically becomes widening the hole to give more surface area support underground.

Awesome. Thank you. I welded together my own gates (ea. 8'x8'). They are just under 300lbs.

@@NSWvet83 What size posts did you go with? 6x6? If so, I would probably take that minimum 18in diameter hole and bump it to 20-24in if you have the room. For a gate that tall, I would err on the side of caution. Concrete is cheap and you only get one shot at the post foundation!

We do not stock any posts that long and we do not make any types of arbors. For a post that long, your best bet is a local company. Otherwise, the freight cost to ship something 14ft long will be painful.

@@Ironfenceshop Thank you for your reply!

That is a pretty extreme frost line depth. I doubt any company would make a post that long to extend below it. Where are you located? It may be worth asking around locally what folks are doing. Normally, 3ft is as deep as you see in the ground with 4ft sometimes being on the extreme end. I would reach out to us on the website. The specific height and type of fence may influence this as well.

@@Ironfenceshop im located in central saskatchewan. No one around us really has their property gated so im not sure.

@@Chris-jr2nu The longest post we stock for driveway gates is 10ft long in a 6x6 size. Just an FYI, I do not have a way to ship direct into Canada. If you have a freight company on the border where you can handle the into-Canada and customs part, we can ship up to the border in the US. Give us a call to discuss the frost line and shipping stuff. 800-261-2729

Gates cannot be racked. They have to be welded solid with framing so they don't sag and you can connect your hinge and latch hardware. If you had a gate on a sloped run, it would have to level out or step there to handle it.

@@Ironfenceshop Thanks for the quick reply. Do you fabricate custom gates if I was to supply proper drawing?

@@dtm8073 We typically will not make a racked gate. It very easy for a slight error in measurement to render the gate as unusable. It can also cause issues with latch hardware working properly and the gate swinging shut too fast and rough at an angle. If you wanted to draw something up for us to look at and weigh in on, you can send to [email protected]

@@Ironfenceshop Thanks.

5ft is a good in-between of tall enough to keep folks in/ out, but short enough you are not looking through it rather than over it. Starting at the 5ft height will give you more driveway gate options as well as they typically start at 5ft tall too (or have more width options starting at that height). If we can help with the project at all, reach out to us at [email protected]!

Thanks. Glad it helped!

It depends on how you are measuring. The panels don't change width, so if you are measuring down the slope they should space out the same. However, if you are measuring straight out (such as with a laser level or transom) then it will throw it off.

@@Ironfenceshop that makes sense, thankyou!

Glad it helped. Its odd how tough it is to find the answers to the simple stuff online sometimes!

You would have to ask Ghost directly. Every manufacturer typically has the plug-in transformer step down the power to trickle charge the battery. The battery is what powers the gate, so I'm not sure a direct connection would work out. It may send too much voltage to the motors. If you want to ask Ghost, their tech line is 850-898-1411

Glad it helped! If you have any other questions, feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email.

Annual maintenance for both is about the same. Iron doesn't rust as much as people think when its treated properly and aluminum requires more than the 'zero maintenance' its sold under. I find both just require an annual walk of the fence line and touching up any damages to the finish. Even though aluminum will pit and oxidize, it won't degrade the metal as much as rust ignored for 5+ years on iron and steel will. However, you trade off A LOT of strength and durability with the aluminum. Its a much, much lighter-duty and easier to bend/ break type of fence than the iron.

They are coming! We just finished shooting videos 1-5 and they are in editing now. Hoping to get 1 out a week as things progress. Stand by!

It varies by both the width and weight of the leaf. They will usually handle around 300-400 lbs per leaf. My heaviest stocked gate is only about 230lbs, so well within the limits. You can use a similar rated battery and not have to use the Ghost one if it dies. However, there is no better or specific brand I'm aware of. You can double your storage capacity by buying a second battery and using two in the control box. You only need one battery to run the unit, but there is room and hookups for a second battery if you want to option it that way.

Glad it helped out! Sometimes its tough to find those very specific DIY helper videos!

With all aluminum fence, they are all technically racking panels. So you can install them in the racked or standard position. Its when you get into steel an iron that you have standard solid welded panels and separate racking panels. But in terms of an overall aluminum fence installation, its normal for most panels to be un-racked and then rack just the ones you need to.

Haha. I completely get where you are coming from. I totally understand that price is important, but I have had so many instances of people not buying from me to go with something cheaper and then coming back to me 1-2 years later to have to replace that cheap fence already. Especially with all the cheaply built aluminum fence out there. There's a reason the "you get what you pay for" and "buy once, cry once" sayings still rung true when it comes to buying things!

You technically could, but the battery wouldn't last long. Maybe a few days to a week at best. The AC power or solar is effectively re-charging the battery after each use so it stays topped off and fresh.

You would need a linear footage to quote the fence. We can't quote by square footage. We don't offer labor, so I can't help with that. If you want to give us a call at 800-261-2729, we can help work through the additional info needed and answer any questions you have.

That's a tough one to answer since column construction can vary so much. That may be a better question for a mason. There is no universal answer on that one like mounting to a metal post. I've seen long masonry lag screws used, steel plates bolted to columns and hinges welded to that and people epoxying in all-thread bolts into the concrete to bolt hinges to. The size of column, construction type (hollow or solid), type of concrete, age and condition of the concrete, etc all come into play for which connecting option is best. Even with a lighter gate, keep in mind that is a lot of leverage force on those bolts depending on the width of the gate leaf too. When people buy gates from us, we typically push them to not connect to the columns directly and use a metal post between or behind the columns instead. Sorry I couldn't give you a solid answer on how to approach it, but hopefully that gives you some guidance.

Glad it helped!

I'm not familiar with that brand of fence or that bracket so unfortunately we won't be able to help on that one.

Glad it helped!

Glad it helped!

Your comment has no logic

@@JoseGonzales-ul9sv clearly your mom didn’t either.

@@polescodes Karen i didn't mean to hurt your feelings

Same I’m here to get ideas to weld my own gate While this guy is probably the 4th party. He take orders, go to gate builder to built it, then hire Mexicans to install then someone eles monitoring them. 😂

IF you mix the concrete on the dry side with a chunky peanut butter consistency, you should be able to stand the posts up in the hole without support. Just remember not to mix the concrete too wet and keep it to a drier mix.

You can go about it a few ways. The key number you want to watch is the amount of post above ground. If your fence is 4ft tall and you want a 3in gap under it, then I want to measure from top of the hole at the ground to the top of the post to make sure I have that 4ft 3in. If I don't then dig deeper or add some gravel to build it up. We recommend that you are looking at that installed 4ft 3in post height WITHOUT the cap on the post too. That way, when you add the cap on, if one post is slightly off from the other, you don't really notice.

That actually would be a good way as well! Magnet sticks its iron or steel, it doesn't and its aluminum. Not sure why that one escaped my mind when we shot this one. Good call!

We don't make any type of sliding gates, so we wouldn't be able to comment or make a video on that one. We only sell swing gates.

Glad it helped out! I did the very same thing when I started using them. It seems counter-intuitive to slow down, but it works!

You may need more than 2ft in ground depending on the fence/ gate and your location. However, we have had folks trim the post tops level after the fact rather than trying to get each one set perfect. However, that only works if its too tall or taller than the fence.

Port cochere entrances are always a case-by-case basis since there is no common size and you are working with a a fixed opening. You are usually looking at a custom built gate or a standard gate mounted behind the opening. Give us a call at 800-261-2729 to discuss options and go over any other questions. 800-261-2729

If its like our j-bolt hinges, you should be able to lift them out without too much drama unless they are seized in there. Its odd new zerks would not allow grease in. That make me think you may just have a build up of old and hardened grease or rust at the bottom of the pot where the zerk goes in. I would try to separate the hinge and take the leafs like you mention and see whats going on in there. Pop out the ball bearing and maybe spray some solvent or something down in there and try to flood/ wash it out and break up the old stuff so new grease can pass through. Just be careful when you pop the hinges apart that the ball bearing doesn't go flying and disappear. They have a tendency to stick to the bottom of the j-bolt and then fall off when you pop them out.

Since there is an array of different hinge and latch options that all require different measurements, we just wanted to go over what generic elements go into calculating that gate post spacing. Gate hardware varies IMMENSELY between gate manufacturers, so you want to make sure you are taking your specific gate and hardware into consideration. This video just serves to illustrate its not just the stated gate width you have to take into consideration.

I have a bit of bias, but check out our gates from the video on www.ironfenceshop.com/driveway-gates or give us a call at 800-261-2729.

Hi there. We need to go over some more details via phone and/ or email. Could you shoot us a message at [email protected] or call us at 800-261-2729? Core-drilling is a stronger and more secure method than the flanges. I couldn't weight in on the depth, but it will be determined by your wall construction. Normally with core-drilling, you only go a few inches deep so you don't break through the slab/ wall. Get in contact with us direct and we can go through the project in more detail. Thanks!

We didn't cover it since it varies immensely across the country and may not apply to everyone. Some areas have zero gate width restrictions while others will have fire department regulations. 20ft seems REALLY wide, but its your individual city's call for what code they enforce. Code like that is NOT universal. A semi truck can fit through a 12ft gate if its going straight through, so a fire truck doesn't need 20ft to get in. However, what the city code says it what you have to follow. Valid point we could have touched on it more in the video, but in 14yrs of being here, its only come up handful of times with local fire departments wanting access from the homeowner for automated gates. Even then it only came up maybe 2 times out of a 100 gate calls. I've never had someone buy a gate and then have to try and return it due to fire department code. As for your 14ft gate, call your city's Building/ Engineering department. Again, some areas may require 20ft like the internet says, but others may have zero gate width restrictions. Only the person at your city's Building/ Engineering Department is going to have the true answer.

That is something we did not cover in this video as it varies from city to city and isn't as universal. However, it is a good point to bring up! It is always smart to check with the city before doing anything like this as there could be a special requirement like that. A quick call to your building/ engineering department to ask about restrictions is always a good idea on any outdoor project.

@@Ironfenceshop Absolutely a call is in order. I don’t generally do less than a 12ft gate. There’s always exceptions but less than 12ft is getting hit.

@@philipwilkins3812 Its for sure never a bad idea to make a call to check those kind of things. We cover the entire US, so we see things run the gamut of lots of very specific and detailed code to zero code restrictions at all. However, better to take a few minutes to call to the city and make sure than run into an enforcement issue after installing the gate.